Aristu is surprised to hear his maybe-mother say that she hadn't discovered anything more about Yulia. At Mikhail's prompt, he looks at the ring on the lady's hand while quickly summoning up his aura sight.

"Well you, Piotr Denisov" she says with a slight lowering of her voice and gaze, "Can call me Melethryn. They can call me Lady Daria."

Aristu:

Aristu recognizes The Dancing Lady's ring as exactly like that worn by The Stag Lord. It is made of green glass and has some sort of twisted fibers embedded in it. Aristu knows from experience that the ring will be impossible to break or mar in any way.

Ahran studies her intently. She seems composed and unafraid, even enjoying herself.

Knowledge (Nature) DC 13:

The fey are alien and hard to predict, but they are not often outright liars.

Aristu recognizes the ring on Daria's hand, and is somehow not surprised, "I see that our rings are from a matched set, Lady Daria," he holds up his left hand to display the ring taken from the Stag Lord, "I'm told that mine was forged in the First World by a powerful fey. I don't suppose you know the one who crafted them?"

"Nobody does. The rings are from the Time Before. The Tane were not even a thought at that time. They are pretty, though, aren't they? I suppose your belonged to that oaf with the temerity to call himself the Stag Lord?"

"If the ring was made by a powerful fey it may or may not have the same properties that your ring has regardless of outward appearances. I would suggest that for the time being you hold onto it. If at a later time we decide that she will not try to kill us all, or all of us other then Piotr anyway, we can always return it. Considering it was the only thing she had...on...it might be wise to remove it from the equation for now." Mikhail looks between Alister and Aristu and waits to see if one will remove the ring.

"Dear boy, they do not come off the living. Do you notice I wear no other jewelry? If you want it, you will have to cut off my hand."

She finally acknowledges Alister's presence, pinning him with those jade-green eyes as if he were the one bound to a chair and not she. "You've grown handsome, Alister, but no better at hiding your disdain. I understand you style yourself a lord now. You must school yourself in diplomacy if you are to succeed amidst powers far greater than your little fiefdom. I may not be your friend, but I am not yet your enemy."

"This ring I had of the Queen of Roses, one of the Eldest. She who is to come. She sent me to find that," she says, nodding at the sword Thorn. "Looks like you win this round."

Sense Motive DC 25:

Something strange is going on here. Daria...the Dancing Lady...whatever her name is, doesn't seem to regret losing to you.

"We awoke from our slumber to find one of our party kidnapped at night... and now we find ourselves in this situation, with you bound, you don't seem particularly concerned by the turn of events. Why is that? If you'd intended a casual tete-a-tete with your son, why approach this way? Something is not right here. I think you wanted us here, thinking you were in our power, for a reason. It would be... easier if you were fortright."

Aristu furrows his brow in thought, "Hmmm, Faisul mentioned the Rose King when we found the pieces of Thorn in that barrow. But wait..." he meets Daria's gaze, "you were there before us. Why didn't you grab the pieces of Thorn when you were there?"

"I think Ahran is right. Something seems off here. Its possible that she feels family will save her here, but its also possible she is stalling to have a stronger hand. I suggest that we not concern ourselves with where she has been in the recent past now and concern ourselves more with what else might be around this evening."

"We awoke from our slumber to find one of our party kidnapped at night... and now we find ourselves in this situation, with you bound, you don't seem particularly concerned by the turn of events. Why is that? If you'd intended a casual tete-a-tete with your son, why approach this way? Something is not right here. I think you wanted us here, thinking you were in our power, for a reason. It would be... easier if you were fortright."

"At the rising of the moon, I will no longer be in your power, Ahran. And it's been ages since I've been properly tied up." She smiles, enjoying her captors' awkward looks.

Aristu Medvyed wrote:

"Hmmm, Faisul mentioned the Rose King when we found the pieces of Thorn in that barrow. But wait..." he meets Daria's gaze, "you were there before us. Why didn't you grab the pieces of Thorn when you were there?"

"The Rose King is a minor fey lord who lives far from here. The Queen of Roses is one of the Eldest, a true Power of the First World."

"What barrow?"

"Mikhail Templeson wrote:

"I think Ahran is right. Something seems off here. Its possible that she feels family will save her here, but its also possible she is stalling to have a stronger hand. I suggest that we not concern ourselves with where she has been in the recent past now and concern ourselves more with what else might be around this evening."

"You are quite safe here. Now that you've invaded my home, murdered my servants and interrupted a tryst, we are the only dangerous things for miles around. You have my word."

"I've always been capable of diplomacy, Daria, but you've rarely given me reason to show it around you. You..." Alister chides himself silently. It was easy to fall back into old habits, especially around family.

He hefts Thorn, keeping a strong grip on the sword. "Why would a fey queen seek out a weapon made to hurt her? To destroy it? Yes, we thought you had already been there. We found a picture of father there. I'm sure he'd be interested to know what's happened to you. Were you going to be content to live here forest for years? Ariel's all grown up now, but she had to do it without you. The Queen of Roses must have little regard for family to take you away from your precious baby." It was a cruel jab, but Alister hoped it had enough behind it to break the fey's mask of serenity.

Piotr stands back, looking about for his shirt and cloak. He has inadvertently stepped into the family drama of his companions. And, considering who and what they are talking about, he hopes that they all survive.

He also has the memories of his dear late wife who has has now also betrayed. The guilt tears at him, like a new raw wound.

The stairs end in a circular room featuring wide windows draped with hanging vines that offer panoramic views of the keep’s overgrown courtyard and the forest beyond. An open circular skylight in the ceiling provides glimpses of the forest canopy overhead. The walls between the windows are carved with exquisite, delicate nature motifs highlighted in gold and silver leaf. A riot of flowers, plants, and bushes sprout from the thick loam that carpets the hall’s floor, as if one were walking in a fantastic glade elevated high above the forest floor.

Many objects decorate the Dancing Lady's boudoir: a life-sized alabaster statue of a nude, dancing elven woman, a gorgeous Taldan harp, a small, carved jade statuette of a coiling snake, and an ancient filigreed elven water clock. The Lady’s bed is covered with a snow-white bearskin coverlet. A finely carved, wooden wardrobe beside the bed holds two royal outfits, three courtier’s outfits, and several other tasteful, once-expensive articles of clothing heavily stained with blood and now worthless. A small wooden coffer atop a rosewood table contains 3 vials of exotic perfume, a gem-studded tiara, and an elaborate bottle filled with some perfumed liquid. A nearby chest holds gold and silver coins in leather sacks.

Alister looks at his stepmother. "I don't know if that's a complement or not coming from you."

He looks to the others and sheathes Thorn. "We ought to take her back to our camp. Something tells me that this place may give her additional power." As they begin to move with her, he asks her. "Are you allied with the trolls? Do they serve the same Queen of Roses?"

"The brute Hargulka is a genius among his kind. But he is no fit servant for a Faerie Queen. He serves her in the way that the grass your horse eats serves you. But...he does wear such a ring, yes."

"Is it not enough that you have invaded my home, killed my servants, bound me and made yourselves at liberty in my home? Now you will abduct me, too? I shall be gone soon, whether from this room or from your camp, so bide a while rather than trussing me up like some game fowl."

"So he does serve her, despite your assertion. He wears her token and has her favor regardless of how lowly he is." He looks back at the others. "This fey queen seems to have a long reach. First the Stag Lord, and now Hargulka."

"I'm curious, Daria. If you can escape, why not do it? Return and enthrall and murder us in our sleep. What's holding you back?"

I'm good. Insulted my stepmother and found out that there's a unifying BBEG.

Aristu puts a hand on his brother's arm, "Is there really anything to gain by dragging her along with us? Let us have her swear not to attempt to harm - or magically compel - us again, and let her go.". The barest hint of a smile turns up the corner of his mouth, "Besidees, do you really want to spend any more time with her than you must? It's a long way back to Stagfell."

He turns to the Lady, "The antagonism between you and Alister almost completely convinces me that you are who you claim to be. I wish this reunion could have been more pleasant, but I am glad to know that you are still alive - in some sense at least. I do hope that you aren't on the side of our enemies."

Aristu pulls a silver locket from a pouch, "Here. I don't know if it means anything to you anymore, but it was yours - once upon a time - and you should have it back. Do with it what you will." He places it around her neck.

"I'm curious, Daria. If you can escape, why not do it? Return and enthrall and murder us in our sleep. What's holding you back?"

"I did not say I would escape. Merely that I would no longer be here. There are more forms of bondage than those made by ropes," she says.

___________________________________________

Just as the first rays of the moon strike the tower's windows, the Dancing Lady's ropes fall away, holding nothing but air as she simply resolves into moonbeams and dust motes. Gone, but for the scent of perfume on the air.

"I am troubled at the thought of her returning here at night to prey upon the unwary. She may be your mother, but nothing says that Piotr would have survived his...tryst...had we not intervened. Several of these clothes are quite bloody. If she returns here even periodically then she runs a risk of causing great harm to the people who may settle here." Looking around Mikhail shakes his head, "Someone definitely gathered a large amount of wealth in this tower, and if it was her I doubt she toiled the land to gain it. What do you wish to do with it all?"

"I simply wish to be gone from here," states Piotr. "Perhaps you, Aristu or Alister, have a better idea of whether she is connected to this place and its treasures. Or if this tower and its contents matter no more than the temporary shelter created by a wild creature. Either way, let's be gone."

Piotr hugs himself, the combination at relief from being rescued and guilt over what he did with this fey creature warring within him.

Did Daria have any reaction to the locket? Either verbal or non-verbal?

Aristu stares at the spot where the Lady faded away for several heartbeats, then turns his head to face Mikhail. "Undoubtedly, I will need to return here and try to resolve this. But apparently, that will be at another time. Meanwhile, we should warn people away from this area."He looks around the room at the treasures decorating the room, and his eye catches on the jade snake statuette, "Many of these things appear to be of elven craftsmanship, they are likely to have been looted from the ruins, I suppose. But who knows? In any case I am disinclined to plunder my mother's home, particularly if I am going to be negotiating with her again in the future."

She seemed to Aristu to be more resigned than anything else. As if in accepting the locket she was accepting something else unknown to Aristu. He felt no real malice in her, at least not directed toward him.

Aristu is no connoisseur of art, much less ancient elven art. He just does not know.

Alister spots something tossed aside. Of no value, it did not catch Mikhail's eye, who had never seen it before. But Alister has: it is the cloak of Kundal, the warrior sent out with Sir Perlivash to survey the Narlmarches.

Aristu turns to Piotr to ask him a question. He sees that the wizard is clearly shaken, and hesitates. Perhaps this will help him take his mind of the evening's events - at least for a minute, he thinks, then picks up the jade statuette. He hands it to Piotr and asks, "Piotr, what is your opinion of this piece?"

We should probably get a night's rest before anything else. Ahran would prefer to leave entirely but if we haven't explored fully we should stay in the area. In that case how defensible is this tower, i.e. could we barricade it/close open windows?

We've been at this scene for more than a month, so I'm quite content to let it end here. You fortify the tower, rest, have fitful dreams of roses and blood, and awaken with a sense of being very, very small.

"Let us leave this place," says Piotr Denisov as he looks about. From his pale appearance, he did not have a restful night. "I am prepared to travel. We can explore this area and then go back to Stagfell. Perhaps we have time for more exploration, perhaps not.

After a gentle reminder, Piotr examines the statuette to see if it would satisfy Lily Teskerton. After being summoned, Corb lands on Piotr's shoulder and peers down at the pale stone. Unfortunately, he cannot assist Piotr.